Ayad Allawi Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here’s a look at the life of Ayad Allawi, the former interim Prime Minister of Iraq.

Personal

Birth date: 1945

Birth place: Iraq

Marriage: Thana Allawi (1987-present)

Children: Three

Education: Studied medicine/neurology in Baghdad and London.

Religion: Shia Muslim

Timeline

1960s – Joins the Baath Party while in medical school in Baghdad.

1970s – In charge of Baath organizations in Europe when he breaks from Saddam Hussein’s regime and goes into exile in London.

1978 – Survives an assassination attempt by Hussein supporters. He is beaten with an ax and hospitalized for almost a year.

1991 – Co-founds the Iraqi National Accord, a group in opposition to the Hussein led Baath Party.

April 2003 – Returns to Iraq when Baghdad falls to the Coalition forces.

October 2003 – Holds the rotating presidency of the Iraqi Governing Council.

April 2004 – Resigns from the Iraq Governing Council security committee when the Coalition refuses to give the committee authority over security issues in Iraq.

May 28, 2004 – Unanimously selected by the Iraqi Governing Council to be the interim prime minister of Iraq after the handover of power.

June 28, 2004 – Sworn in as the interim prime minister of Iraq. He is the first ruler other than Hussein to lead the country in more than three decades.

September 23, 2004 – Holds a press conference with US President George W. Bush at the White House.

December 16, 2004 – Allawi announces his list of 240 candidates for the Iraqi National Assembly and says security and national unity would be the top priorities of his slate. He turns down a chance to run on a ticket determined by Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani.

April 2005 – Steps down as interim prime minister.

July 2008 – Testifies before a US House Foreign Affairs subcommittee about the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

March 26, 2010 – Iraqi officials issue election results confirming Allawi’s Iraqiya coalition has won the most seats in Parliament.

September 8, 2014 – Iraqi lawmakers approve a new government with Allawi as one of the country’s three vice presidents. The positions, considered redundant and part of a bloated government, are eliminated August 2015 and restored by federal court October 2016.

December 2017 – In response to US President Donald Trump‘s call to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Allawi urges the United Nations to intervene, stating that the move will hamper the role of the United States in the peace process.

November 29, 2019 – Following Abdul Mahdi’s announcement that he will resign as prime minister, Allawi calls for the creation of a “caretaker government” to prepare for transparent elections.

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